Production line balance problem identification and improvement based on decision tree: A case study of commercial air conditioner production line

Abstract

In the production of air conditioners, there are various issues such as complex requirements, redundant stations, excessive man-hours, and low production line balance rate. This paper aims to address these problems by analyzing the historical data of H Company's commercial air conditioner production line. The data is categorized into five aspects: station, working hours, standard working hours, labor capacity, and presence of bottleneck processes. To optimize and improve the second production line, this paper applies the production line balance management method based on data mining. It utilizes the decision tree model in data mining and incorporates lean production knowledge from industrial engineering. The goal is to identify crucial factors that affect the balance of the production line and address the issues caused by these factors. The aim is to reduce and eliminate redundant working hours and enhance the balance rate of the production line. By implementing the approach outlined in this paper, the bottleneck time of the second production line was reduced from 96.67 s to 74.6 s, and the production line balance rate increased from 68% to 85%.